Bible Strands
Hebrews 11:29
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author of Hebrews addresses a community of believers, recounting historical acts of obedience to illustrate living by faith. This verse sits between the Passover account and the fall of Jericho in a sequential review of Israel’s wilderness journey.
The words — Πίστει (Pistei) translates literally as "by faith" and anchors the action to trust rather than military strategy. διέβησαν (diebēsan) means "they passed through," describing the physical crossing enabled by divine intervention.
The thread — The crossing is first recorded in Exodus 14:13 as a moment of promised salvation, then recalled in Psalms 78:13 and Psalms 106:9 as a demonstration of God’s power over the waters. Hebrews 11:29 synthesizes these accounts to highlight the people’s responsive trust.
Why it lands — The text states that the people crossed safely while the pursuing Egyptians were drowned, establishing a boundary between obedience and rebellion. It requires the reader to align their actions with divine instruction rather than human calculation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
Cross-references
- Exodus 14:13 But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
- Psalms 78:13 He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
- Psalms 106:9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.
- Psalms 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.
- Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
- Isaiah 63:11 Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His Holy Spirit among them,
- Habakkuk 3:8 Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD? Was Your wrath against the streams? Did You rage against the sea when You rode on Your horses, on Your chariots of salvation?
- Psalms 114:1 When Israel departed from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
- Psalms 136:13 He divided the Red Sea in two His loving devotion endures forever.